C.P. Cavafy: The Poems

An anniversary edition that includes the 154 poems of the Cavafian "canon."

"Walls"

Without reflection, without pity, without shame,
they built great and high walls around me.

And I sit and despair now here.
I think of nothing else: this fate gnaws at my mind;

for there were many things I could have done outside.
Ah, when they were building the walls, why didn't I notice?

But I never heard the sound or noise of builders.
They imperceptibly shut me out from the world.

(From the edition)